News / Pakistan

Bomb blast kills eight in Pakistan's Lahore: Police

Tuesday, 17 February 2015 8:38 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 17 February 2015 1:11 PM ]

Pakistani police officials inspect the site after a bomb explosion near the police headquarters in Lahore on February 17, 2015. (AFP photo)

At least eight people have been killed and several others wounded in a bomb blast in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police say.

The explosion occurred close to the police headquarters in the center of Lahore, which is Pakistan’s second-largest city and the power base of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Tuesday.

“According to initial reports it was a car bomb but we are still determining the exact nature of the blast,” senior police official Haider Ashraf said.

First responders are currently at the site, carrying out the necessary measures to help the victims in the area.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

The explosion comes less than a week after 22 people were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack on a Shia mosque packed with worshipers in the northeastern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

More than 60 people were also wounded during the attack, for which militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility.

Also on January 30, another explosion on a Shia mosque and religious center in southern Pakistan killed 61 people, who were performing Friday Prayers in Shikarpur district of Sindh Province. Dozens were also wounded in the attack. The Jundallah militant group, linked to the TTP claimed responsibility for the January attack.

The Pakistani army has been stepping up operations against militants following an attack on a military school, which left 134 students dead, in Peshawar last December.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and military leaders have vowed to eliminate terrorism in the country.

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